Computer based maps of geographic areas include data representative of navigable paths (e.g., roads, streets, walkways), intersections, points of interest and other features. The navigable paths may be represented by discrete data points. A discrete data point may be a coordinate pair (latitude and longitude) or triple (latitude, longitude, and altitude). However, the discrete data points provide only an estimate of the navigable path. The exact location of the navigable path between discrete data points may not be included. Instead, the navigable paths are approximated to form a path curve.
The path curve may deviate from the actual navigable path. Further, the collection of path curves in a database may vary because the path curves are generated from different techniques. Some path curves may be derived from historical maps and surveys. Some path curves may be traced from aerial or satellite photographs. Some path curves may be manually generated by a person using a computer. Different cartographers may select different end points, nodes, and shape points for generating a path curve by computer. These variations in path curve generation lead to inconsistent accuracies in the database.